1970 Detroit Tigers season

1970 Detroit Tigers
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Tiger Stadium
City	Detroit, Michigan
Owners	John Fetzer
Managers	Mayo Smith
Television	WJBK (George Kell, Larry Osterman)
Radio	WJR (Ernie Harwell, Ray Lane)
Seasons

The 1970 Detroit Tigers season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 79–83, 29 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.

Offseason

• December 13, 1969: Tom Matchick was traded by the Tigers to the Boston Red Sox for Dalton Jones.
• February 19, 1970: The Tigers' Cy Young Award winning pitcher, Denny McLain, was suspended from baseball "indefinitely" by MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
• April 1, 1970: Kuhn announced that McLain's suspension would last until July 1, 1970. McLain missed the first 71 games of the 162-game season.

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	108	54	0.667	—	59–22	49–32
New York Yankees	93	69	0.574	15	53–28	40–41
Boston Red Sox	87	75	0.537	21	52–29	35–46
Detroit Tigers	79	83	0.488	29	42–39	37–44
Cleveland Indians	76	86	0.469	32	43–38	33–48
Washington Senators	70	92	0.432	38	40–41	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1970 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	13–5	7–5	9–3	14–4	11–7	12–0	7–5	5–7	11–7	7–5	12–6
Boston	5–13	—	5–7	8–4	12–6	9–9	7–5	5–7	7–5	10–8	7–5	12–6
California	5–7	7–5	—	12–6	6–6	6–6	10–8	12–6	8–10	5–7	8–10	7–5
Chicago	3–9	4–8	6–12	—	6–6	6–6	7–11	7–11	6–12	5–7	2–16	4–8
Cleveland	4–14	6–12	6–6	6–6	—	7–11	8–4	7–5	6–6	8–10	7–5	11–7
Detroit	7–11	9–9	6–6	6–6	11–7	—	6–6	8–4	4–8	7–11	6–6	9–9
Kansas City	0–12	5–7	8–10	11–7	4–8	6–6	—	12–6	5–13	1–11	7–11	6–6
Milwaukee	5–7	7–5	6–12	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–12	—	5–13	3–9–1	8–10	5–7
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	10–8	12–6	6–6	8–4	13–5	13–5	—	5–7	13–5	6–6
New York	7–11	8–10	7–5	7–5	10–8	11–7	11–1	9–3–1	7–5	—	6–6	10–8
Oakland	5–7	5–7	10–8	16–2	5–7	6–6	11–7	10–8	5–13	6–6	—	10–2
Washington	6–12	6–12	5–7	8–4	7–11	9–9	6–6	7–5	6–6	8–10	2–10	—

Notable transactions

• April 8, 1970: Tom Tresh was released by the Tigers.
• August 2, 1970: Kevin Collins was purchased by the Tigers from the Montreal Expos.

Roster

1970 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 38 Les Cain 18 John Hiller 35 Mike Kilkenny 30 Lerrin LaGrow 15 Fred Lasher 29 Mickey Lolich 17 Denny McLain 36 Norm McRae 19 Joe Niekro 43 Daryl Patterson 20 Bob Reed 27 Jerry Robertson 46 Dennis Saunders 39 Fred Scherman 28 Tom Timmermann 16 Earl Wilson		Catchers 11 Bill Freehan 34 Tim Hosley 33 Gene Lamont 12 Jim Price Infielders  9 Ike Brown 25 Norm Cash  4 Kevin Collins  7 César Gutiérrez  2 Dalton Jones 41 Elliott Maddox  3 Dick McAuliffe 42 Ken Szotkiewicz  8 Don Wert		Outfielders 26 Gates Brown 23 Willie Horton  6 Al Kaline 31 Russ Nagelson  5 Jim Northrup 24 Mickey Stanley		Manager 10 Mayo Smith Coaches 51 Wally Moses 52 Len Okrie 50 Grover Resinger 53 Mike Roarke

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
SS	César Gutiérrez	135	415	101	.243	0	22

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Dalton Jones	89	191	42	.220	6	21
Jim Price	52	132	24	.182	5	15
Ken Szotkiewicz	47	84	9	.107	3	9
Kevin Collins	25	24	5	.208	1	3
Tim Hosley	7	12	2	.167	1	2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Les Cain	29	180.2	12	7	3.84	156

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Kilkenny	36	129	7	6	5.16	105

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
John Hiller	47	6	6	3	3.03	89
Lerrin LaGrow	10	0	1	0	7.30	7

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Frank Carswell
AA	Montgomery Rebels	Southern League	Stubby Overmire
A	Rocky Mount Leafs	Carolina League	Max Lanier
A	Lakeland Tigers	Florida State League	Dick Tracewski
A-Short Season	Batavia Trojans	New York–Penn League	Joe Lewis
Rookie	Bristol Tigers	Appalachian League	Al Lakeman

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1970 Detroit Tigers season at Baseball Reference